At home with Betty Hussey

Last week I showed photographs of a few rooms at Scotney Castle. Here are the same rooms, and some others, but now seen through the medium of watercolour.

Mrs Hussey in the Kitchen. Image: National Trust

The pictures are by Sam Beazley, who is an actor as well as an artist and who used to own the Portmeirion antique shop in Pont Street, London.

The garden lobby. Image: National Trust

Mr Beazley was a friend of the late Mrs Betty Hussey and often visited Scotney during her lifetime. He painted these views in the 1980s.

The flat. Image: National Trust

Last year he generously donated a group of 18 of these watercolours to the National Trust for display ay Scotney Castle.

The bamboo bedroom. Image: National Trust

The artist has not only captured the quality of the light in the different rooms, but he has also faithfully recorded the formica kitchen table, an electric heater, a television and other signs of modern life.